Refuse burner

ABSTRACT

A vertical casing is provided therewithin with an annular vertical structure provided with openings therethrough for the free flow of air and products of combustion into the space within the casing to facilitate combustion of refuse within the inner wall and a vertically elongated grate structure is provided centrally of the device to facilitate the free flow of air and rapid combustion of the waste material burning operation.

' United States Patent 1 3,559,593

[72] Inventor Elson R. McClure 1,943,132 1/1934 Maul 110/18 1427 CarroIlLaneP. 0. Box 68, Paradise, 2,035,167 3/1936 Korach.. 110/18 Calif. 95969 2,936,724 5/1960 Bishop 110/18 [21] Appl. No. 809,264 2,994,367 8/1961 Sherman 110/18 [22] Filed Mar-21, 1969 3,203,377 8/1965 Claassen etal. 110/18 Patented Feb. 2, 1971 3,329,141 7/1967 McClure 110/18X FOREIGN PATENTS 725,790 2/1932 France 110/18 8 Claims, 14 Drawing Figs. Primary Examiner-Kenneth W. Sprague 52 11.5.0. .1 110/18 Blair [51] lnt.(l F23g 7/00 FicldofSenrch /7A, 8,

18, 18C ABSTRACT: A vertical casing is provided therewithin with an annular vertical structure provided with openings [56] References therethrough for the free flow of air and products of com- UNITED STATES PATENTS bustion into the space within the casing to facilitate com- 801,251 10/1905 Kilboume 110/18X bustion of refuse within the inner wall and a vertically elon- 920,312 5/1909 Fox 110/18 gated grate structure is provided centrally of the device to 1,787,081 12/1930 McLellan 110/18 facilitate the free flow of air and rapid combustion of the 1,880,370 10/1932 Breitvvieser 110/18 waste material burning operation.

'1, I'll 1' 111111110 Frill/[I114 "11111111.

I PATENIEU FEBZ sam- SHEET 1 BF 3 INVEN TOR. 1504 A. M 0 025 B CROSS-REFERENCE TO PRIOR PATENT The present construction utilizes the grate of the burner of my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,329,141, granted Jul. 4, 1967. In this patent, a vertical staff centrally of the burner is provided at vertically spaced points with novel types of grate devices adapted to rotate on the axis of the stem and to oscillate, caused by and through natural gravitation of the weight of the waste material falling from the grates above to the grates below, which causes the grates to rotate and oscillate on their axis. Thus, the diminution of the combustible waste, gravitat ing from the top grates down through the finer grates below tends to diminish the burned material in size, reducing same to ash with the ash being gravitationally accumulated in the ash pit at the bottom of the structure, below combustion chamber.

Such prior grate construction is preferably used with the present apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An outer, generally cylindrical solid casing may be made up of sections bolted together, which may be readily assembled, or dismantled, to provide a burner of any desired height according to the needed capacity thereof. Within the casing and spaced therefrom is an inner annular wall made up of elements to provide openings communicating between the interior of such wall and the space between the wall and casing so that the material being burned within the inner wall produces smoke and products of combustion which flow freely with air moving upwardly throughout the height of the combustible material, the smoke, products of combustion and air being free to move through the wall openings into the draft space provided between the casing and the wall, thus greatly facilitating the combustion of the material. The openings through the inner wall may be provided by the use of louvers supported by circumferentially spaced vertical structural members, although the wall may be formed of screen material similarly supported. Axially within the device is arranged a grate structure similar to that shown in my prior patent. Such grate structure forms per se no part of the present invention, being a part of the general combination. An opening is provided in the top of the structure for evenly feeding combustible material thrust thereinto over the grates, and portions of the bottom of the casing structure are adapted to be opened for controlled draft, or to clean out the ash pit at the bottom of the structure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical sectional view through the apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the apparatus with the grate structure eliminated;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical radial sectional view through an upper portion of the structure showing the opening for feeding combustible material to the apparatus;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view on line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view through one of the vertical structural elements showing the adjacent ends of two louvers normally connected thereto and shown separated therefrom;

FIG. 6 is an end view of one of the louvers looking in the direction as suggested by line 6-6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary side elevation of a portion of one of the vertical structural members looking in the direction suggested by the line 7-7 in FIG. 5;

F IG. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of one of the vertical structural members adapted for use with a modified type of louver;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary perspective of one end of the modifiedtype of louver;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary perspective view of the adjacent end portions of two sections of the structural members;

FIG. 11 is a horizontal sectional view similar to FIG. 4 showing a modification of the structure and showing doors adjacent the bottom of the structure;

FIG. 12 is a section on line 12-12 of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view showing the means for connecting adjacent ends of casing sections to each other, the parts being shown separated; and

FIG. 14 is an enlarged vertical fragmentary sectional view of the means for mounting the door sections.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, the numeral 10 designates generally a vertical casing structure formed of sections 12 having their adjacent edges connected to each other as shown in F IG. 13. An upper section 12 is provided with an angle iron 14 below which the associated section projects as at 16. The next lower section 12 is provided with a similar angle iron 18 projecting above the top edge 20 of the associated section 12 and it will be apparent that the projecting end 12 is adapted to engage the edge 20 within the vertical flange of the angle iron 18, thus accurately positioning the parts. A washer 22 is arranged between the horizontal flanges of the two angle irons and the latter are adapted to be secured together by bolts 24 provided with the usual nuts 26.

The uppermost section of the casing, indicated by the numeral 28 (FIGS. 1 and 2), is conical and communicates with the discharge flue 30. The structure at the upper end of the apparatus is disclosed in my copending application Ser. No. 749,857, filed Aug. 2, I968.

The lower end of the structure is provided with bars or grates 36 supported on a lower casing section 38 and forming an ash pit 40. This pit may be cleaned up by opening doors described below.

Within the casing 10 is arranged an inner wall 42 combining with the casing to form an annular flue 45. The wall 42 may be made up as shown in FIGS. 4 to 8, inclusive. This wall comprises a plurality of circumferentially spaced channel irons 44 preferably held together in the finished structure by surrounding bands 48 having their ends connected together by turnbuckles 50. The bands 48 rest on hooks 49 welded to certain of the channels 44. Each channel member 44 is connected to the adjacent ends of louvers 52, each of which has an end wall 54 (FIG. 6), the lower edges of which are notched as at 56 to fit over headed studs 58 extending through the parallel side flanges of the channel members 44 to be supported in position. These louvers are placed one above the other in spaced relation as suggested in FIGS. 2 and 3 and they provide spaces 60 therebetween whereby products of combustion from the central chamber 62 (FIG. 4) may flow into the annular space 45 to be carried upwardly and discharged through the top of the apparatus.

Alternatively, the louvers 52 may have their end walls 54 provided with pins 53 engageable in openings 55 in the side flanges of the members 64.

Each of the channel members 44 is preferably formed as shown in FIG. 10, comprising a plurality of individual sections 64 arranged in end-to-end alignment. A short channel section 66 projects into each lower section 64 and is welded thereto as at 68. The next higher channel section 64 has a slip fit with the upwardly projecting end of the associated short section 66. After the sections of each channel unit 44 are assembled together with its louvers 52, the bands 48 are tightened around the inner wall structure.

It will be understood that the novel grate structure of my prior US. Pat. No. 3,329,l4l, referred to above, will be arranged centrally of the combustion chamber 62, as shown in FIG. 1. This grate structure is fully described and illustrated in my prior patent and will be only generally referred to herein. This grate structure comprises a vertical staff or post 70 having grate units 72 supported thereby in vertically spaced relation and adapted to oscillate or wobble on the post 70 and to rotate around the axis thereof. This grate structure is advantageous in that it is constantly breaking up the top bed of burning material to facilitate agitation and gravitation thereof, and the supplying of air thereto and to prevent the gathering, and piling up of Waste material on the top and lower grates on which the burning material is suspended. This action is greatly enhanced by the structure forming the subject matter of the present invention, namely. the imperforate outer casing and the inner perforate wall 42. At all points along the height of the fire bed; air and products of combustion are free to move through the louvers and waste material suspended on the grates into the annular stack 45 This greatly facilitates the supplying of adequate air to support rapid combustion of the burning bed of material throughout the entire height of the complete structure thereof.

At any desired point around the conical upper section 28, there is provided a feed hopper 74 having an arcuate wall 75 provided near the top thereof with an opening 76 to receive material to be burned. Two plates 77 and 78 are pivotally supported as at 79 and occupy the normal positions shown in FIG. 3. When material is in the space between the plates 77 and 78, the plate 77 is pushed downwardly and closes the opening 76 at the point where the plate 78 is about to leave the lower end of the arcuate wall 75. This seals the combustion chamber from the atmosphere and prevents the escape of products of combustion through the hopper 75. Further swinging movement of the plates 77 and 78 in a clockwise direction moves the plate 78 to open the bottom of the hopper to dump the material into the combustion chamber.

In FIGS. 11 and 12 of the drawings, additional features of the apparatus are described and illustrated together with a modified type of inner wall in the modified structure. The inner wall has been indicated as a whole by the numeral 80 and comprises a cylindrically shaped wire body 82 supported by the same types of vertical channel supports 44 previously described. The screen 82, of course, permits the free flow of air and products of combustion from the combustion chamber into the annular flue 45.

To provide access to the lower part of the flue 45 and to the ash pit 40, the apparatus is provided with doors 86 shown in FIGS. 11, 12 and 14. Each of these doors is formed as a section of a cylinder having at their adjacent ends angle irons 88 adapted to be brought together when the doors are closed, as shown in FIG. 11. The angle irons 88 are bolted or otherwise normally secured together as at 89. The bodies of these doors 86 are of somewhat larger diameter than the remainder of the sections 10 of the casing, and the ends of the latter adjacent the doors are provided with angle iron stops 90 having gaskets 92 arranged thereagainst and adapted to contact with angle irons 94 on the adjacent edges of the door to form a leak-proof joint. The doors 86 may be made of any number of vertically aligned casing sections, three of which have been shown in FIG. 12, and connected to each other by the means shown in FIG. 13. Accordingly, the doors 86 are movable as a unit about the axis of the casing 10, or individually.

Movement of the doors is guided by the means shown in FIGS. 12 and 14. At spaced points, the main portions of the casing 10 are provided with arcuate tracks 96 adapted to receive headed studs or rollers 98 fixed to the inner surfaces of the doors 86. It will be apparent, therefore, that the doors 86 are adapted to be opened by moving them concentrically around the main body of the casing 10, as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 11, thus providing access to part or all of the inner vertical structure behind any one or all of the doors 86, for purposes of repair, replacement, cleaning or whatever of structure or ash pit.

The channel units 44 are assembled in sections, as suggested in FIG. 10, and the louvers 52 are arranged therebetween, whereupon the clamping bands 48, resting on hooks 49, are tightened to provide a rigid inner structure. The outer casing and the door units are then assembled around the inner wall structure, one of the grate units of my prior patent, of course, being arranged centrally of the structure. Refuse is loaded into the combustion chamber through the hopper door 76 (FIG. 3)

and ignited at the bottom. The characteristics of the grate structure of my prior patent are such that the burning waste material falls from the top grate to the next finer grate below. and above the next fi'ner grate above and below, etc. The weight of the natural gravitating of the waste material causes the grate units 72 to rock or wobble on the post 70 and to rotate, thus substantially breaking up the burning material, which is burning from underneath, and as it is reduced in size by the flames it gravitates to the next size grate below preventing the latter from packing and to eliminate a stationary bed at the top of the burning material. The surrounding of the grate structure by the inner wall 42 and the casing 10 very greatly increases the combustion efficiency of the apparatus. It is unnecessary, although my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,329,141, so provides, for air and products of combustion to move upwardly through the entire height of the bed of burning material before being discharged through the flue 30. In addition, air and products of combustion are free to move radially outwardly and upwardly between the louvers 52 into theannular flue 45, and this greatly increases the rate of supply of air to the bottom of grates on which burning material is suspended. Thus, a given load of refuse will be completely burned in a relatively short period of time, and the completeness of the combustion minimizes the inclusion with the ashes in the ash pit of any unburned material.

After ashes have accumulated beyond a certain point, the doors 86 (FIG. 11) may be swung to open position for the complete cleaning of the ash pit and/or the annular flue 45. It will be understood, of course, that the bottom door 86 of the lower casing section 38 will provide suitable draft by opening or closing, for supplying a controlled flow of air at an adequate rate for cooling, and to fully support rapid combustion of the material within the structure.

From the foregoing it will now be seen that there is herein provided an improved Refuse Burner which accomplishes all of the objects of this invention and others, including many advantages of great practical utility and commercial importance.

As various embodiments may be made of this inventive concept, and as many modifications may be made in the embodiments hereinbefore shown and described, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted merely as illustrative, and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

l. A refuse burner comprising an outer casing, and an inner wall spaced from and concentric with said casing and defining therewith a vertical flue and forming therewithin a combustion chamber, substantially the entire area of said wall being provided with openings for the free flow of air and products of combustion from said combustion chamber to said flue, said wall comprising vertical circumferentially spaced structural members and louvers connected between adjacent pairs of structural members to form said openings, said louvers adjacent the top of said structure sloping upwardly and inwardly, said louvers adjacent the top of said structure sloping upwardly and inwardly, said louvers throughout the remainder of the structure sloping upwardly and outwardly.

2. A refuse burner comprising an outer casing, and an inner wall spaced from and concentric with said casing and defining therewith a vertical flue and forming therewithin a combustion chamber. substantially the entire area of said wall being provided with openings for the free flow of air and products of combustion from said combustion chamber to said flue, said casing and said wall forming a frustoconical upper section, a hopper carried by said upper section and having an arcuate bottom wall provided near the top thereof with a feed opening, said bottom wall forming the side means for preventing the escape of smoke, and plates connected together for pivotal movement relative to and concentric with said arcuate wall, one of said plates being movable to a position closing said feed opening whereupon the other plate moves into said combustion chamber to open said hopper thereto so that said first-named plate acts to move material from said hopper to said combustion chamber. 1

3. A refuse burner comprising an outer casing, and an inner wall spaced from and concentric with said casing and defining therewith a vertical flue and forming therewithin a combustion chamber, substantially the entire area of said wall being provided with openings for the free flow of air and products of combustion from said combustion chamber to said flue, said wall comprising vertical circumferentially spaced structural members and louvers connected between adjacent pairs of structural members to form said openings, said louvers having end flanges lying against said structural members and detachably connected to said structural members.

4. The refuse burner of claim 3, wherein each said flange and corresponding structural. member has a plurality of holes and pins in the alternative mating with each other for forming a detachable connection.

5. A refuse burner comprising an outer casing, and an inner wall spaced from and concentric with said casing and defining therewith a vertical flue and forming therewithin a combustion chamber, substantially the entire area of said wall being provided with openings for the free flow of air and products of combustion from said combustion chamber to said flue, and an arcuate door forming part of said casing slidably mounted for movement along a radial path having the center of said casing as the other end of the radii of said path for providing access to said flue for cleaning ashes therefrom.

6. The refuse burner of claim 5, wherein the other part of said casing has a radial length less than that of said radii.

7. The refuse burner of claim 6, wherein said other part of said casing has an area equal to the height of said door along the total length of the circumference of said other part of said casing completely covered by said door during the open position thereof.

8. The refuse burner of claim 5, wherein said casing has a longitudinal guide along the length of the circumference of the other part of said casing for slidably mounting said door. 

1. A refuse burner comprising an outer casing, and an inner wall spaced from and concentric with said casing and defining therewith a vertical flue and forming therewithin a combustion chamber, sUbstantially the entire area of said wall being provided with openings for the free flow of air and products of combustion from said combustion chamber to said flue, said wall comprising vertical circumferentially spaced structural members and louvers connected between adjacent pairs of structural members to form said openings, said louvers adjacent the top of said structure sloping upwardly and inwardly, said louvers adjacent the top of said structure sloping upwardly and inwardly, said louvers throughout the remainder of the structure sloping upwardly and outwardly.
 2. A refuse burner comprising an outer casing, and an inner wall spaced from and concentric with said casing and defining therewith a vertical flue and forming therewithin a combustion chamber, substantially the entire area of said wall being provided with openings for the free flow of air and products of combustion from said combustion chamber to said flue, said casing and said wall forming a frustoconical upper section, a hopper carried by said upper section and having an arcuate bottom wall provided near the top thereof with a feed opening, said bottom wall forming the side means for preventing the escape of smoke, and plates connected together for pivotal movement relative to and concentric with said arcuate wall, one of said plates being movable to a position closing said feed opening whereupon the other plate moves into said combustion chamber to open said hopper thereto so that said first-named plate acts to move material from said hopper to said combustion chamber.
 3. A refuse burner comprising an outer casing, and an inner wall spaced from and concentric with said casing and defining therewith a vertical flue and forming therewithin a combustion chamber, substantially the entire area of said wall being provided with openings for the free flow of air and products of combustion from said combustion chamber to said flue, said wall comprising vertical circumferentially spaced structural members and louvers connected between adjacent pairs of structural members to form said openings, said louvers having end flanges lying against said structural members and detachably connected to said structural members.
 4. The refuse burner of claim 3, wherein each said flange and corresponding structural member has a plurality of holes and pins in the alternative mating with each other for forming a detachable connection.
 5. A refuse burner comprising an outer casing, and an inner wall spaced from and concentric with said casing and defining therewith a vertical flue and forming therewithin a combustion chamber, substantially the entire area of said wall being provided with openings for the free flow of air and products of combustion from said combustion chamber to said flue, and an arcuate door forming part of said casing slidably mounted for movement along a radial path having the center of said casing as the other end of the radii of said path for providing access to said flue for cleaning ashes therefrom.
 6. The refuse burner of claim 5, wherein the other part of said casing has a radial length less than that of said radii.
 7. The refuse burner of claim 6, wherein said other part of said casing has an area equal to the height of said door along the total length of the circumference of said other part of said casing completely covered by said door during the open position thereof.
 8. The refuse burner of claim 5, wherein said casing has a longitudinal guide along the length of the circumference of the other part of said casing for slidably mounting said door. 